1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stuffed toy incorporating a display mechanism for holding a greeting card or gift items.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Greeting cards are commonly given on special occasions such as birthdays, graduation and so forth, frequently accompanied by a small gift. Cards are not inexpensive and it is difficult to find a small gift that is not likely to be immediately discarded or regifted.
Stuffed toys, more particularly stuffed bears, have enjoyed a tremendous popularity and are frequently combined by florists and retailers of novelties with flowers, balloons, cups of candy or the like to form a gift. A stuffed bear, not being too feminine, is an acceptable gift for most men as well as women.
Greeting cards are typically selected because they are beautiful or because they have a clever message which is targeted at the recipient. Rather than discarding the greeting card, it would be desirable to have a way for the recipient to display the card such that both the inside of the card with the giver""s name and the outside are visible in connection with the gift.
The present invention provides a stuffed toy incorporating a display mechanism for holding a greeting card. The stuffed toy with card may be given alone as an attractive, relatively inexpensive small gift or combined with flowers, etc. to make a more elaborate display.
The following U.S. Patents are incorporated by reference herein: U.S. Pat. Nos. 440,986, 3,071,893, 3,693,288, 3,696,553, 3,928,933, 4,057,612, 4,095,367, 4,152,865, 4,407,090, 4,590,196, 4,725,257, 4,729,751 and 5,762,569.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stuffed toy that is capable of holding and displaying a card such as a greeting card. It is another object to provide a stuffed toy for holding a card in a manner such that the inside of the card with the giver""s name and the outside of the card are visible in connection with the gift. Other objects and features of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
The device of the invention is a stuffed toy in the form of an animal such as a bear, rabbit, chick, seal or the like with movable upper limbs in which are incorporated a display mechanism for gripping a card such as a greeting card by opposite side edges or for holding other gift items. The device of the invention permits the displayed material to be readily visible to anyone viewing the toy. In particular, the device of the invention permits opposite side edges of a card to be gripped by the animal""s paws and displayed frontally transverse the animal""s midsagittal plane such that the front and back of the card can be read. The device of the invention may also be used to grip other gift items such as a balloon on a stick, lollypop, etc., along with or in place of a card.
The invention summarized above comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated by the subjoined claims.